creativeRAW Member Feedback

Hi Folks! Thanks for taking the time to submit your feedback on the new creativeRAW platform.

1. Video Structure

Some members have asked for longer lessons to be split up into smaller segments so the information is more easily absorbed. I uploaded an example of what this would be like with the histogram lesson…found under the new Lightroom Develop Module course, which is the first course listed in your Dashboard. Please log into your account and take a look, then select an answer below and/or comment to let me know what you think.

2. Member Conversations

We have a fantastic creativeRAW Facebook group that connects lifetime members with other photographers, and will often have some great conversations. However, you may want your own smaller place to connect with only lifetime subscribers.

*Note: My ideal choice would be a private forum on creativeRAW so that you’re not locked into Facebook, but I tried that a few years ago and interest waned quickly…most likely because it’s a hassle to log into and keep track of another website.

3. What else would you like to see in the program?

Do you have any thoughts or questions on the new platform, or would like to see additional features? Please post a comment below so other members can contribute. Many thanks for feedback and help, it’s much appreciated!

22 thoughts on “creativeRAW Member Feedback”

Shorter videos partly because I don’t always have an hour to watch also because sometimes the amount of information can be overwhelming. This may not be true for everyone but when information is something I’m familiar with my mind tends to wander and then I miss information that is new. A shorter format would, I think, help keep that to a minimum. (under 30 minutes or maybe less)

Choice for a forum would be either a forum on CreativeRaw or a private FB page. My personal choice would be CreativeRaw as that doesn’t tie me to FB which I’ve been considering leaving and haven’t because a couple of groups I belong to use it socially and to plan events.

Hi Rebecca – Sorry about that, you should see it the next time you log in.

Many thanks for your feedback on the lessons and the forum in particular. I think I may give a private forum another try. I’m not a fan of Facebook myself and would like a way for non-Facebook members to connect.

Chris I like the new format. I don’t have a Facebook account but voted for a private group. As you know there are two factors in play: getting your brand into the larger world where you can attract new subscribers, and catering to your subscribers preferences. If you are getting subscribers from the open group, look after your business, unless you are getting a very strong preference the other way.

One problem with an open page is the potential for random buffoons to drop by and create havoc. A private Facebook group keeps everything in house and less chance of disruptive behaviour.

I noticed something odd this morning when I checked your home page. The Complete Guide to Smart Objects in Photoshop and The Complete Guide to Layers are muddled. Click one and the other comes up. Also, it takes two back arrows to get on the on the previous page. Click back arrow once and a blank screen comes up, click a second time and the previous page comes back.

You’ve done a ton of work on this and it’s looking great. I did the first two lessons on Histogram and like them. Thanks for your efforts.

I turned 75 on June 6th and have been seriously slowing down my law practice, so I hope over the next year I can drill down and get better with post processing. I love to shoot, but my processing is still at a fairly basic level, given the potential in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Thanks for the great feedback Ted, and your advice on marketing is certainly welcome! I try but it’s overwhelming since most marketing advice is, well, marketed. The open FB Group is gaining a lot of traction so I will definitely keep that, this would be an additional group or forum only for members.

Also appreciate the heads up on the homepage, that must be a glitch from the update.

Congratulations on your semi-retirement, would be happy to help you navigate through these programs once you have the time! Always feel free to write with any questions.

I think shorter lessons (maybe max of 20 minutes) would be the best format for instructional videos, as that keeps it to a manageable time while still being able to get into some detail on the topic at hand. I do like that you review the agenda at the top of the video, so that it’s clear what the lesson is going to cover. However, I’m not sure that a review at the end is all that necessary.

Regarding a forum, I would prefer to have it on CreativeRaw versus Facebook, as I don’t have a Facebook account and don’t really want to get one.

I would enjoy it if you could put the old videos from pre-subscription Lightroom and Photoshop into a legacy collection on the site as I’m stuck with LR6 and CS5.5 since I refuse to pay-up on Adobes (or anyone elses) subscription cash cows.

Hi Raymond – I would say about 95% of the content in the new lessons would be applicable to LR6, so including the older lessons would be redundant and also counterproductive since the new lessons have more in-depth explanations. The interface is essentially the same as Lr6, and the few new tools (i.e. dehaze and texture sliders) can be skipped…but if you have any lessons in particular you would like me to send, I can put together some download links – just let me know! Thanks for the feedback.

I like the new website and appreciate the effort put into creating it. Navigation is very easy. I agree with Rebecca’s comments regarding length of videos – the shorter ones work better for me. The way I work, I find they help my focus. I also really appreciate the Tips section, an easy way to find the non-course material. Finally, for a variety of reasons, I find myself using FB less and less and would appreciate another platform. As an aside, I’m a Capture One user, with PS as necessary; thus I don’t use LR. Nevertheless, I’ve benefitted a lot from the various CreativeRAW materials, including universally pertinent things I’ve taken from the LR videos. Thank you.

Thanks for the comment David, this is very helpful….and glad you find the new layout easy. Many of the lessons, although recorded using Lightroom, will apply to other processing programs…so I hope you find some additional benefit in the future videos!

Chris I like the new platform. It is easy to navigate without distracting unnecessary clutter. I voted for multiple videos, but also like the time marks you have been using. The longer videos have the advantage of not having to go over or skip over the intro music and words again. Either way, I often want to jump to a particular short segment of a video to find the answer to something I’ve forgotten, but know is there somewhere. I’ve used the FB forum way in the past, but for reasons of privacy I have discontinued my use of FB altogether. I would prefer a separate forum, but can understand FB users will have a reluctance to use another platform. Perhaps it is only that you are getting the new platform up and running, but I notice there is inconsistency in the downloading of the videos. The Photoshop lessons have an easy-to-select button for download, but the one Lightroom lesson and the Tips videos don’t. The Tips videos require an email address to get the link. You would want to gather email addresses for videos you make public, but as a member I find it annoying as it involves another step and because I forget which email I’ve used before I end up getting multiple emails from you. It would be nice if logged-in members could access the download link directly. Thanks for your videos, I find them in-depth and informative while much of what is available elsewhere is superficial and seems to be designed to show off the cleverness and showmanship of the presenter and to get more clicks.

The timestamps will be something I include in future videos, although some videos may be too short to necessitate them.

The video download links will be added with the new lessons, just haven’t added them yet….and your idea of making the public lessons more easily accessible for logged in members is a good idea, I’ll look into that. As a fallback, any public video that is downloadable will already be in your Dashboard.

Glad you’re enjoying the videos! I’ve closed down membership for over a year now in order to fully focus on restructuring the program and creating more comprehensive lessons…so I’m happy to start releasing them to members.

I like the new format a lot — easy to navigate. And the changes you say you’re making to the content should also be a great addition. Two observations: first, I prefer not to use Facebook at all, so I voted for a different private platform. If you go with Facebook, do make it a private group. I won’t participate in a public group because there’s usually too much garbage being posted to navigate around. Second, the titles of the courses confused me a bit because they don’t say which platform they are for. I knew from your email that you put up mostly Photoshop courses, but in the final format, it would be helpful to group them under a labeled Lightroom or Photoshop category. Keep up the great work. The content in these courses is so helpful because you go into the detail we need. I’m comfortable in Lightroom, but even there, I often go back to a course to remind me how to use a function I don’t use often.

Chris, Simply put, the new format is great. Definitely more “digestible”, when one does not have enough time to cover a full long lesson. I agree with what many have said about FB; I am really not a fan. An alternative private forum would be better, perhaps even Flickr! I truly appreciate your approach Chris, in today’s world inundated with superficiality and rushed quick fixes. Thanks for your had work.

Great to hear your feedback about the new format, exactly what I was going for. Right now I am leaning towards a private FB group due to the simplicity of posting images for critique (website forums are more difficult), but I’m still gathering opinions for a few more days. Appreciate your reply and many thanks for your kind words!

Hi, Chris! Things seem to be much “cleaner” and easier to access on the new site. Like some others, I don’t use FB, simply because I don’t trust it. I also like the idea of shorter lessons, but the BEST thing about all your lessons –besides their superb quality, of course–is that I can download them and work them at my own pace or refer to them easily for a “refresh” or review. Sometimes when I’m working on an image and forget how to do something (at 77 that happens more often now!) I can zip back to the lesson readily and use it while I’m working. Another thing that helps is having sample images to work along with the video. Thanks for all your great work!

Thank you Lynn, great feedback to hear! Lesson downloads will definitely be available, it’s something I’ve believed in from the start: if you buy a program, you should be able to work with tangible video lessons. Appreciate the reply!

Hi Chris I really prefer the new site with the shorter video lessons as most of the others have pointed out. Thank you for a great website with quality content and applicable information. You are doing a wonderful job!